UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Global warming outpacing evolution

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. and international researchers say global warming is outpacing the ability of humans, plants and animals to adapt.

Research presented earlier this year at a conference sponsored by the UCLA Institute of the Environment, published in an upcoming special edition of Molecular Ecology, said human-caused ecological changes have resulted in greater threats of disease, reduced diversity in plant and animal communities, and an overall loss of natural heritage.

"Evolutionary change caused by human activities touches every ecosystem on the planet, yet our understanding of the processes and the long-term consequences remain poorly understood," Thomas Smith, acting director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment, and Louis Bernatchez of Universite Laval in Quebec said in the preface to the special edition.

They called for additional research and better collaboration with policy makers to incorporate evolution in planning and to develop strategies to maximize adaptability, the journal said Thursday in a release.

More than 300 scientists and policymakers from 20 countries attended the UCLA summit.

New species of butterfly discovered

LONDON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A team of London-based explorers discovered a new species of butterfly in the northern reaches of the Andes mountain range in South America.

The team of explorers and scientists with London's Natural History Museum discovered the coffee-colored insect, named Idioneurula donegani, during the first manned exploration to the peaks of the Serrania de los Yariguies mountain range in Columbia, The Independent reported Thursday.

Blanca Huerta, butterfly curator at the museum, said the finding was "an amazing discovery."

"Discovery of unseen species of insect are more common than with many other types of animal," she said. "But for any biologist it's exhilarating to find an entirely new species -- especially one that survives in environments where you wouldn't expect to find them."

Scientists thought the high-altitude mountain range would not support butterfly habitats.

Forty percent of the 20,000 known species of butterfly originate from South America.

Thailand considered for tiger reserve

WASHINGTON , Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Conservationists said Thailand has the potential to be a global centerpiece for tiger conservation.

Thailand's Western Forest Complex is a 6,900-square-mile network of parks and wildlife reserves that could potentially support some 2,000 tigers, a study by by Thai wildlife officials and the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society said Thursday.

The study, published in the journal Oryx, said increased efforts to safeguard both tigers and their prey from poachers is critical to increasing tiger densities.

The study said the Western Forest Complex currently supports an estimated 720 tigers.

While no truly accurate global numbers exist, conservationists estimate that 5,000 tigers remain in the wild. An estimated 100,000 tigers may have roamed throughout much of Asia in the 1850s, the report said.

Squirrels use snake scent for safety

DAVIS, Calif., Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Animal researchers say California ground squirrels and rock squirrels mask their scent by chewing up rattlesnake skin and smearing it on their fur.

Barbara Clucas, a graduate student in animal behavior at the University of California Davis, said the scent probably helps to protect the animals from predators, especially when asleep in their burrows at night, the university said Thursday in a release.

Donald Owings, a professor of psychology at UC Davis, said other rodents have been observed using similar behavior.

Owings' lab has found that squirrels can heat up their tails to send an infrared warning signal to rattlesnakes, which can see the infrared, assess how dangerous a particular snake is, based on the sound of its rattle and display assertive behavior against snakes to deter attacks.

The study was published Nov. 28 in the journal Animal Behavior.